Strome, Sandin additions are examples Caps GM wants to replicate originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Brian MacLellan understands the difficult task ahead he has this summer.
The Washington Capitals plan to try and compete for a Stanley Cup as long as captain Alex Ovechkin is on the roster while he chases Wayne Grextsky’s all-time goals record. Ovechkin still has three years remaining on his contract and is 72 goals behind Gretzky.
For MacLellan, Ovechkin’s presence means building a competitive roster around an aging core; Five of the Capitals’ six remaining players from the 2018 Stanley Cup team are in their thirties, with Tom Wilson, the youngest, 29 years old. MacLellan admitted that threading the needle and balancing the two is a difficult task, but it’s what the organization has promised to do.
“We want to finish out a couple of careers of important players in our organization and we want to stay competitive, but we also want to get younger,” MacLellan said. “So it’s a challenge to be in a position to have all three of those things, but we’re going to try.”
As MacLellan tries to reshape the Capitals’ roster, there are two moves from this past season that show examples of his vision.
The first occurred last July when the Capitals added forward Dylan Strome on a one-year deal after he was non-tendered by the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks.
Strome, who originally signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal, rewarded the Capitals with a career-high in goals (23), assists (42) and points (65). His strong play earned him a five-year extension with the team in March, a deal that showed the organization’s belief in him both as a top contributor in the present and for the future.
“I got to play with some really good players this year and I’m looking forward to building on those and that chemistry and those relationships,” Strome said. “From a personal standpoint, I’m excited to come back next year. I’m excited to be here for the future. This is kind of the first time that I’ve had that opportunity to know where I’m going to be. for a while. I’m excited to build on what I did and get better.”
Strome admitted he was able to play a lot more freely after signing his extension, largely due to the fact he could solely focus on hockey and not worry about getting a new contract. His play backed that up, too, as he recorded 31 points in 29 games after signing his extension, including a four-game goal streak at the end of the year.
The second roster move from last season that MacLellan can point to as an example of his vision is the Capitals’ trade deadline acquisition of Rasmus Sandin.
Sandin, who just turned 23 in March, was previously stuck on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ third defensive pairing. Sandin temporarily held out of Toronto’s training camp last fall with the hope of a bigger role, something he was unable to get until he arrived in Washington.
Acquiring a player like Sandin — young and talented, but still with plenty of room for development — is a blueprint MacLellan hopes to replicate moving forward.
“That’s the ideal stuff for us is to find good young guys that have the potential to grow their game,” MacLellan said.
The Capitals’ blue line was significantly injured when Sandin arrived in early March, which allowed him to immediately play on the top defensive pairing. Sandin shined initially, as he recorded eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his first four games with the Capitals, the most by a defenseman in franchise history.
Sandin slid to the Capitals’ second blue-line pairing when star John Carlson returned from injury, but his time with the Capitals proved he’s capable of being a quality defenseman in the NHL. Sandin will represent his native country Sweden in the IIHF World Championships this month in what should be an excellent experience for a young and promising player.
The additions of Strome and Sandin this past season were hardly MacLellan’s only attempts at building a strong roster around the Capitals’ core. Washington signed forward Connor Brown in free agency with the hopes he’d emerge as a top-six forward, but a torn ACL ended his season in just four games. Additions of forwards Marcus Johansson and Henrik Borgstrom, and defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Matt Irwin were meant to provide more depth.
“We tried to build it up as deep as we could,” MacLellan said. “Our mentality is to create the depth that we can withstand injuries and man games lost.”
Injuries were one of the main reasons for the Capitals’ shortcomings this year. Several key players missed significant time, with Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson each absent for over half the season. TJ Oshie was limited to 58 games; even Ovechkin missed eight games.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, MacLellan left the door open for significant changes this offseason. He specifically highlighted Washington’s top-six forwards as an area he’s looking to improve. The additions the Capitals make at forward will then impact the moves made on the backend, MacLellan said.
“We’ll look at some things for sure,” MacLellan said. “Sometimes making change just to make a change is not right, but we’re going to look for opportunities. Opportunities present themselves in free agency and the trade market as we go towards the draft. So we would be more open-minded to opportunities that present themselves this year would be the way to put it for me.”